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Jewish World Review July 8, 2005 / 1 Taamuz, 5765 It's Civilization vs. Oil By Froma Harrop
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
It is oil's fault. The London bombings are almost surely Al
Qaeda's work, which means oil paid for them. Oil keeps the Mideast backward.
It funds the madrassas that fill heads with anti-West poison. And it pays the terrorists
who plant bombs on European trains and drive airplanes into American
buildings. It is time we did something about oil.
The United States accounts for 25 percent of the world's oil
consumption. We could crush oil's power to hurt us with a serious campaign
to kick our fossil-fuel habit. But we don't, because we have an administration and
Congress that care more about the oil industry than about us.
That said, not everyone in Washington is craven to the god of
petroleum. The Senate has just passed an energy bill that provides real
incentives for conservation and alternative sources. But little of the good
stuff made it into the House version. And so, the Senate must now reconcile
its modern vision with the House's primitive worship of fossil fuels.
We're in Iraq because of oil. That's not to say our intentions
were ever to take over Iraqi oil fields. Our interest is to transform
Mesopotamia and the rest of the Mideast into stable democracies. The theory
is that angry theologies and genocidal tyrants frustrate economic
advancement and breed dementia. Change all that, and the Mideast will become
a peaceful and prosperous region.
But were it not for oil, that part of the world would have long
ago moved toward modern economies. The people would have had no choice. They
would have done it themselves. Americans would not be sending their soldiers
to build democracy for them.
But the corrupting influence of oil goes on because the United
States hasn't had the discipline and courage to end the oil game. The Bush
administration's only energy policy is to provide new tax breaks to the
drillers and open up wildlife refuges to energy companies. As national
policy, it's a sideshow: The amount of oil that could be economically taken
from the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge is miniscule next to our energy
needs.
This approach damages us because it maintains the myth that
America can somehow reduce its dependency on foreign oil without giving up
oil consumption. World supply and global demand ultimately set the price of
oil. China's mushrooming economy alone will keep it rising. The idea that
U.S. oil companies would give Americans a break on the world price because
the crude came out of Alaska is utter fantasy.
The lack of will to tackle the problem lies not in the American
people but in their leadership. An Associated Press poll in April asked this
simple question: "Do you think George W. Bush is or is not handling the
nation's energy problems effectively?" Two-thirds answered, "Is not."
Every time someone suggests programs to reduce America's oil
consumption, the president says "can't do." It would harm the economy, he
argues. But empowering terrorists with oil money also damages the economy.
For further reference, study the recession that intensified after the Sept.
11 attacks. Look at our limp response to something as simple as applying
fuel-efficiency standards, now required on cars, to light trucks. The
president and Congress quickly squelched that idea. Why? It would raise the
price of SUVs, and that is purportedly more than Americans can stand.
The awful bombings in London — no matter who did it — remind
us that terrorist attacks on the West are not one-time deals. There will be
more of them, and some will happen here. And when they do, there will be
more hand-wringing about our addiction to oil.
But instead of wringing hands, we could start applying elbow
grease. Americans really do want to reduce their dependency on oil. They are
willing — even eager — to make short-term sacrifices for this longer-term
good. But they need leaders who are with them and serious about taking
America out of the oil quagmire and into an enlightened age.
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© 2005 Creators Syndicate |
Arnold Ahlert | |||||||||||
